TOP TEN New and Updated Available Internships
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
Contact: Zeka Glucs, zekaglucs@ucsc.edu
The Predatory Bird Research Group is a long-standing non-profit organization at UCSC tasked with monitoring wild populations of predatory birds and promoting their conservation through education and local involvement. Interns will learn to identify the breeding raptors of Santa Cruz County and gain hands-on skills in field
observation and data collection.Participation in both Winter and Spring quarters is preferred: field observation training will take place in Winter Quarter (2 units), data collection and research activities will take place in Spring Quarter (2 or 5 units).
Leadership roles and independent research opportunities are available to students able to take the 5 unit internship in Spring Quarter.
UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve in Marina, CA
Various Internships
Contact: Joe Miller, joemiller@ucsc.edu.
Application Form Link:More information will be available soon for the spring of 2023!
Chaparral Monitoring Internship Spring 2022 - UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve
Contact: Laurel Fox, fox@ucsc.edu.
Application Form Link: https://forms.gle/
bNbt7GnfYA3kxkHf8 • We will follow a protocol to measure long term chaparral vegetation
monitoring plots by hand, related to research by UCSC EEB Professor Laurel
Fox. Students will learn basic botany, and gain knowledge of shrub species of
Monterey maritime chaparral habitat, and explore community ecology topics at
the reserve. This is a great way to learn field measurements, and more about
the research possibilities in the UCSC Natural Reserves.
• We are looking for students who have at least one open weekday in their
schedule, due to travel time to Marina, CA from UCSC.
• Carpooling from the UCSC Coastal Science Campus is available.
• Work is in a rugged outdoor setting in all weather conditions, with potential for
exposure to insects, poison oak, and reptiles.
Norris Center for Natural History
Norris Center Internships
The Norris Center welcomes students who are interested in natural history and want to get hands-on experience with a natural history collection in a meaningful way. 2-unit and 5-unit internships are available to students interested in creating their own projects or continuing long term projects. Past projects have included taxidermy, creation of exhibits, cataloging various collections, creating online natural history resources, teaching classes, leading hikes for campus groups, and writing natural history based books/curriculum. We have a diverse collection including an herbarium, and collections of birds, herps, fish, skulls, mammals, insects, etc. at your disposal to work with. Successful interns will have an interest in natural history and enthusiasm for learning.
- Herbarium Internship- learn about plants in the museum
- Taxidermy Internship- learn about how to prepare specimens for the museum
- Bird-window Collision Internship- conduct research to help decrease bird-window collisions
- Natural History Museum Management and Curation- learn the management and curation of the natural history museum
- Museum Education and Outreach- conduct outreach and museum education on campus and in the community
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Norris Center Taxidermy Internship
Contact: Chris Lay, cml@ucsc.edu, (831) 459-4763
The taxidermy intern will be crucial in helping add to, and maintain, our current collections. The intern will be trained in how to skin, dry, document and properly preserve bird, and possibly mammal, specimens over the course of the quarter. According to a detailed protocol, the intern will work to create scientific specimens from previously collected animals to add to the museum’s collections.
Homeless Garden Project
Homeless Garden Project Internship
Contact: Omar Guzman, omarg@homelessgardenproject.org
The Homeless Garden Project provides job training on a 2.5 acre organic farm and its enterprises, to homeless individuals in the Santa Cruz area. We run a 60 member CSA (May through October) and have a retail store near downtown. Interns are encouraged to set their own goals and create a project that will leave a lasting impression on the organization, with unlimited access to the knowledge of the farm workers and agency staff as well as other agencies we work closely with. Tasks can include, but are not limited to: everyday farm maintenance activities – bed clearing, planting out, greenhouse propagation, irrigation, etc.; planning and teaching a workshop to crew and public participants; fundraising/grant writing; administrative assistance; cooking.
For more information, please visit the Homeless Garden Project website.
Jodi McGraw Consulting & UC Santa Cruz Greenhouses
Sandhills Restoration Intern
Contact: Jodi McGraw, jodi@jodimcgrawconsulting.com (831)768-6988
Jodi McGraw Consulting is implementing a series of sandhills conservation and restoration projects, including a multi-year project to restore mined habitat within the approximately 114-acre restoration area of the Olympia Quarry in Felton, CA. The work done by interns is part of a longer-term restoration effort designed to establish native plant species form the sandhills communities, including rare native plant species, in order to help recover four federally-listed endangered species. Sandhills Restoration interns gain experience in the following aspects of conservation and restoration, with the precise activities depending on the season (i.e., quarter) of participation:
- Native plant propagation, including seed collection, cleaning, and growing;
- Native plant installation and maintenance, including weeding, pruning, and irrigation;
- Exotic plant identification and control strategies;
- Rare plant identification and monitoring, including mapping;
- Endangered insect surveys; and
- Monitoring of experimental trials to promote endangered plants and insects and restore degraded habitat.
Groundswell Coastal Ecology
Groundswell Coastal Ecology
Contact: Bill Henry, bill.henry@groundswellecology.org
Groundswell Coastal Ecology seeks interns for our Coastal Programs in Santa Cruz County.
Groundswell is a fiscally sponsored 501(c)(3) dedicated to making our coast better for nature and
people. We build healthy coastal ecosystems through education and community-based ecological
restoration and research. We use these tools to increase biodiversity, ecosystem resiliency, and
aesthetic at highly visited coastal access sites. In 2021/22 interns will participate in three primary
projects: Monterey Bay Living Shoreline Program, Teaching our NextGen Coastal Adaptation
through Green Infrastructure, and the Santa Cruz Monarch Enhancement Project. We work at Santa
Cruz K-12 schools and coastal sites stretching from Rio Del Mar to Pescadero including those at
Seabright Beach, Lighthouse Field, Natural Bridges, and Davenport Landing.-
Communications Volunteer Intern
Island Conservation is seeking a Communications Volunteer Intern to learn from and support the Communications Team in our Santa Cruz Headquarters. We are looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated individual who wants to develop new skills and improve their writing, communication, social media, organizational, and computer skills. For more information, please visit the website.
Ants in Tropical Forest Restoration Research
Forest Restoration Research Intern
Note: Available Fall 2023
Contact: Christina Blebea, cblebea@ucsc.edu
Do you want entomological lab work experience? Sign up to assist Graduate Student Christina Blebea with research on ant communities in tropical forest restoration! We’re discovering how ant assemblages change during restoration. Students will get hands-on experience with insects in the lab, learning how to prepare specimens and collect morphometric data. No experience is required.
Sprout Up
Sprout Up Internship Opportunities
The listing is also found on Environmental Education tab.
Sprout Up is a project of Environmental Volunteers founded in 2009 by undergraduates to instill a love for learning and an ethic of sustainability in our youth. Our environmental science & sustainability program links teams of college-student instructors with 1st and 2nd grade classrooms for weekly activities, experiments, and discussions that explore the relationship between humans and the natural world.
In the past decade, Sprout Up has grown from teaching 25 students in a single classroom in Santa Barbara to teaching more than 30,000 students across California and in New York City! We have also provided leadership development and training to over 3,500 college- student volunteers.
We're excited to grow our organization into new colleges and universities across the country, and we invite motivated college students to get involved!
Contact: Kendall Post, kendall@sproutup.org
This is located at the UCSC Farm
Listing also found in the Agroecology and Plants tab.
Available Spring & Summer 2023
Contact: L Gilbert & Dav Bell, lgilber1@ucsc.edu 530-575-7965 (cell)
The Greenhouse Project is an intergenerational educational space that explores
the relationship between art, food, and climate justice. The project is currently
being built at the UCSC farm and includes the creation of a small, wooden
structure that will serve as a gathering place for students and community
members and a 1-acre community garden, with a focus on native plants and
grassland restoration. In the Spring of 2023, we will host a series of programming
around the theme of seeds, that will include events, workshops, performances, art
installations, etc. Interns can focus on an area of interest to take on leadership
(gardening, building, education, social media) or participate in all aspects of the
project.
Prerequisites: Outline the skills and background information necessary to participate in this internship. An openness and willingness to learn and collaborate! The given number of hours per week varies from 5-15. No previous experience is necessary. This internship will be most exciting for students interested
in agroecology, art, and education.
UCSC Life Lab
School Garden Internships
The listing is also found in Environmental Education tab.
Contact: Cara-Alexandra Sundell, cara@lifelab.org
Come enjoy the Spring season in the garden and get school credit. Interns receive training in: Garden-based science education, working with children in an outdoor setting, organic gardening, garden development projects, environmental education, games, activities, and much more! Interns teach garden-based science to local 2nd-grade school groups.
